This is a interesting TED talk, in which TED collaborated with animator Andrew Park to illustrate Denis Dutton’s provocative theory on beauty — that art, music and other beautiful things, far from being simply “in the eye of the beholder,” are a core part of human nature with deep evolutionary origins. Also interesting to see the conversation this talk sparked on YouTube….check it out HERE!

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment. The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach. Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today’s pop culture.”Influencers” belongs to the new generation of short films, webdocs, which combine the documentary style and the online experience. Make sure to support the film on Facebook HERE!INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

Basile is a 29-year-old online designer and co-founder of web creation studio FCINQ. His 2008-2009 online portfolio caught our attention, even the loading screen is beautiful…see some screen shots below and check out his site here, or visit FCINQ here.

Place houses are architect-designed kit houses, a type of prefab. They are currently available in the Pacific Northwest and soon, anywhere! They recently completed their first house for a family in Kirkland…see images of the progress below and check out their site here!

The Dark Side Of The Lens is a short film that shows a side to surfing that few of us, as observers or surfers, will glimpse: the life of the photographer. Renowned surf photographer Mickey Smith worked with Allan Wilson (director of photography) from the Astray Collective to show what drives him to spend countless hours in cold and hostile waters in search of a single shot…“I wanted to create that something that would give insight into what it takes to grind out a living as a water-based photographer in the surfing industry,” Smith explains, “to provide a short, experimental glimpse into life lived in the shadow of what is, for me, an obsessive pursuit.”We at (echo)witness love the message of the film: “If your life is spent simply observing and documenting what you see, are you ever really present? It’s this willingness to go unnoticed, to hide in the shadows and sacrifice personal notoriety for the sake of one’s art…”